Dubai
If the popular ToTok video and voice calling app is a spying tool of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that’s news to its co-creator. Giacomo Ziani defended his work in an interview with The Associated Press and said he had no knowledge that people and companies linked to the project had ties to the country’s intelligence apparatus, despite a recent report in The New York Times. Millions downloaded the ToTok app during the several months it was available in the Apple and Google stores. Its surge in popularity was likely driven by the fact that it allowed users to make internet calls that have long been banned in the UAE, a US-allied nation where the largest city is Dubai.—AP
